


The Pop Star, The Sleuth, and The Notebook

by GrenadeFestival



Category: Death Note
Genre: (more to be added) - Freeform, A Surprising Amount Of Poker, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Courtroom Drama, Detective Misa, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fake Character Death, Fluff, Mind Games, Misa realizes Light is just using her, Mystery, Show Business Shenanigans, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 12:49:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7574611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrenadeFestival/pseuds/GrenadeFestival
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a change of heart, Misa realizes that the Kira she worshiped is no longer the one standing in front of her. L promises to save her from execution if she helps him prove once and for all that Light is Kira. A theatrical performance, two secret trials, and some underhanded blackmailing later, Misa finds herself playing spy for the greatest detective in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Misa Has A Moral Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> My relationship with Misa is a complicated one because on the one hand she's super annoying, but on the other hand I feel really bad for her because of everything that happened to her and hate Light for being a dick and taking advantage of her emotional fragility. So here was my thought process when writing this fic: 
> 
> "I feel so bad for Misa. She would have done so much better without Light. I love L so much. He would have done do much better without Light.....wait, what if they could do better without Light...TOGETHER??" 
> 
> Insert the 8O emoji. Cue furious typing. I hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> (Apologies in advance for all the internal monologing but it's Death Note, so honestly what did you expect?)

The tree is right where Light said it would be, though Misa is surprised that she was able to find it at all. The misty forest is like a maze, and she feared more than once that she might get turned around and never come out again. She waves those thoughts away as she crouches down by the base of the tree, reaching into her bag for her trowel. She’s here now, and that’s all that matters. Soon everything will be as it should. 

Her shovel hits something in the dirt, and she unearths a flat, white box. It’s damp from being in the soil so long, and the cardboard feels grimey to the touch, but as she removes the lid she’s too wrapped up in her nervous excitement to care. Her eyes widen as she lays eyes on the small black notebook inside. 

_ There it is. A notebook, just like Rem said,  _ she thinks. 

_ Her _ notebook. 

She picks it up, and immediately feels a sharp pang in her skull. She gasps and tries to drop it, but her hands are locked in place and refuse to obey her. The pain in her head gets worse and worse as thoughts and images flood into her. For a moment she’s frightened, but she soon realizes that these scenes are familiar. The tapes. The eyes. Every name she penned inside the page’s thin margins. Though the memories are often dark, she isn’t afraid. Instead, it’s like coming home. She watches it all play out in her mind, awestruck. 

The headache subsides before long, and Misa can’t help but smile as everything clicks into place. 

_ Light, I remember. _

She hugs the notebook close to her chest as she realizes exactly why Light sent her here. He wanted her to regain her memories, just as he did. He didn’t want her to be stuck in the dark.

_ He really does care about me.  _

She opens the notebook and flips through the pages. She doesn’t get far before something falls out and lands on the ground. She closes the notebook and sets it down. She picks up the envelope and smiles. 

“Oh a letter from Light, yay!” 

It isn’t very long, and it’s clear to her immediately that it’s not a love poem. Light wastes no time in getting down to business. 

_ “By the time you read this letter, you should have remembered everything. Do you remember my friend you met when you came to visit me at To-oh University? He called himself Hideki Ryuga.” _

She thinks for a second and realizes that was moments before she was arrested. She remembers talking to Light and his strange friend. She remembers the crowd and then her manager dragging her away. Moments later the police arrived, blindfolded her, and took her away. She thought for sure she’d be killed. How could she forget that?

_ It was him,  _ she realizes with a start as she pictures the minutes before being arrested,  _ Ryuzaki was there, but he said he was Hideki Ryuga.  _

_ “I want you to write his real name in this notebook and kill him. But if you do it right after reading this letter, it will be immediately after you and I are given our freedom. So don’t kill him until I give you the order to do so.”  _

She looks up from the letter, trying to remember the name she saw. She knows that it wasn’t Hideki Ryuga or Ryuzaki. She remembers that much, but his real name eludes her. She tries to remember what letter it started with, hoping that will jumpstart her memory. 

_ He must be L if Light wants me to kill him. Did his name start with an L?  _

She isn’t sure. She never bothered to remember his name despite how unusual it was. With all the names and lifespans she saw day in and day out, it was impossible to keep track of them all. Trying to remember all of them, even the unusual ones, was an impossible errand that she never even thought to attempt. It just hadn’t seemed important at the time.

_ I have to remember it though! I can’t kill him if I don’t!  _ she thinks,  _ But...no, Light’ll come up with a back up plan. He’s a genius after all. He’ll kill L one way or another. Gah, I just wish I could help him do it! _

Then she stops for a moment, reconsidering her last thought.

_ Light really is going to kill him then,  _ she thinks,  _ Just like that, all his obstacles will be gone.  _

She knows she should be happy. After all, Kira helped her when no one else would, and Light...he’s the love of her life. She should be glad that finally he’ll be able to move freely and create a new world where nothing like what happened to her parents can happen again, but still…

She sighs. 

_ I thought Ryuzaki and I were actually becoming friends. I don’t like the idea of killing one of my friends. But I guess if Light says so… _

She continues reading the letter.

_ “If you do this, I will love you forever.” _

“And what if I can’t do it?” she mutters to herself, “What then?” 

She clutches the notebook to her chest. 

_ I have to remember his name. I want him to love me. I want to be loved so bad… _

She thinks as hard as she can about that day. She saw his name clearly. She talked to him for several minutes. Ryuzaki’s real name  _ has  _ to be in there somewhere. She feels like she’s grasping at smoke though, and the more she tries to remember, the more she realizes that the memory simply isn’t there anymore. Like so many other names she’s seen, it’s be swallowed up by time. 

“I can’t remember no matter what!” she cries, “Why am I so stupid?!”

She takes a breath, trying to stop the flow of hot tears dripping down her face. 

_ Well, maybe this isn’t all bad. I mean...I don’t really want to kill him anyway. I’d just feel terrible if I did, what with us finally getting along and all. I mean, he wasn’t very nice to me when we first met, keeping me tied up and trying to get information out of me. He’s always been creepy, but...I don’t know. I guess I can forgive him for that. He was right about me being the second Kira, after all… _

_ No, what am I saying?! He’s just like all those officers and lawyers who let that scumbag who killed my parents get away with it. Kira...no, Light was the one who actually did something about it. Kira’s justice is the only kind that works anymore!  _

_ Although, I guess he’s not  _ entirely  _ like the police. Even the police don’t like what he does sometimes. He’ll do anything to get results, to bring people to justice, even if other people don’t like it. I guess he’s kind of like Light that way.  _

_ Well, even if he is like Light, it doesn’t matter. Light can’t make the world a better place if he gets caught, and Ryuzaki is the only person who can do that. I  _ have  _ to kill him...even if I don’t want to.  _

She takes a deep breath and groans. 

“This is exhausting,” she mutters. 

The leaves above her rustle and she hears the creaking of branches and the beating of wings. She looks up just in time to see a frightening, but familiar, figure alight on a low branch. 

“Ah, I’ve finally returned to the human world.” 

“Ryuk!” Misa cries, “Long time no see!” 

As soon as the shinigami is on the ground, she runs and throws her arms around his neck. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she says. 

“Uh...sorry,” he says. 

“Huh?” 

Before she can react, she falls to the ground with a thud as Ryuk briefly becomes intangible and allows Misa’s arms to slip right through him. 

“I’m a guy, I get kind of shy sometimes…” he says. 

Misa just laughs. 

“Oh! I almost forgot!” she says, reaching into her bag. She pulls out a large, red apple, and Ryuk’s eyes light up immediately. 

“Light said to bring one for you,” she says, handing him the fruit. 

He gobbles it down immediately before Misa can say anything else.

“Wow, is it really that good?” she asks. 

“Oh yeah. Apples from the human world are - what’s the word? - juicy,” Ryuk says. 

He pauses a moment before reaching over his back and pulling something out of what Misa can only describe as the feathers around his neck. She thinks it’s a fruit, but it looks shriveled and dead. 

“Here’s an apple from the shinigami realm,” Ryuk says, “Want to try it?” 

Misa takes it from him and gives it a dubious look. 

“Go on, one bite won’t kill ya.”

“Um, ok,” she says. 

The skin of the apple is leathery when she bites into it, and underneath, the fruit is so grainy she feels like she just put a handful of dirt in her mouth. The taste isn’t much better. She gags and spits it out immediately. 

“Ack! It’s like sand!” she cries. 

Ryuk just chuckles. 

“Yeah, they’re pretty dry, huh.”

Misa takes a moment to let the sand taste disappear from her mouth and takes a breath, remembering that there’s still something she has to do. 

“Ryuk, I’ve got a big problem,” she says, “There’s someone Light really needs me to kill, and I know if I kill him, then I’ll be helping him and Kira. I owe Kira for punishing the man who killed my parents, and I believe in what he’s doing, but the person Light wants me to kill is also someone I sort of became friends with while my memories were gone, and the last thing I want to do is betray my friends. But he’s also trying to  _ catch _ Light! I don’t know what to do!” 

“Hm, yeah that is a pretty tough decision,” Ryuk says. 

“I can’t remember his name anyway, so it’s not like I could kill him even if I wanted to,” she continues, “but I know Light will still want to try and kill him, and he’ll want me to help him do it. Whether I remember his name or not doesn’t really matter. He’ll die either way if I don’t do something about it. I don’t know whose side to take!” 

“Well it doesn’t really matter to me who lives or dies. I’m attached to you right now, and as long as I am, my agreement with Light has changed.” 

“Come on, Ryuk, please? I really need your help on this.” 

“Alright, fine. You love Light because he punished the guy who killed your parents, right?” 

“Well it’s more than that…” 

“Sure, whatever you say,” he says, “I’m guessing the guy Light wants you to kill is that L guy. He catches criminals too, right?” 

“Well yeah, I guess. Are you saying I should side with whoever is best at punishing bad people?” 

“I don’t see why not. It’s what makes you happy, right?” 

“Well, that’s true enough. Hmm, who’s better at punishing criminals? I guess it would have to be Light. I mean, he’s killed more criminals in a few months than I’m sure Ryuzaki ever has. That’s pretty fair, don’t you think?” 

Misa pauses a moment and sighs. 

“But it’s no good, Ryuk! Ryuzaki might be weird, but it’s not like he’s evil. Not like the man who killed my parents. If I let Light kill him, then he’ll be killing an innocent person. He told me himself that he doesn’t want to hurt innocent people. It’s not like Ryuzaki is moments from catching either of us. He said so himself that knowing that we’re both Kira isn’t enough to solve the case.” 

_ I know I killed innocent people in the past, and I know that what I did was wrong. Only bad people deserve to die. Light believes that too so… _

Misa jumps to her feet and frowns. 

“I can’t let Light kill Ryuzaki. He told me that he only wants to punish bad people, so if I let him kill someone who’s innocent, then  _ he’ll _ be one of the bad people! Light wouldn’t want that. Don’t you think so?” she asks. 

Ryuk laughs. 

“Sure, why not?” 

“That settles it then,” she says, “So if I tell him I can’t remember Ryuzaki’s real name, he’ll just find some other way to kill him. But if I tell him that I do remember it, he won’t do anything for a while and I have some time to come up with a plan. Maybe I can convince him that killing Ryuzaki isn’t worth it. Light’s smart. I’m sure he’ll come up with another solution! He’ll understand. I mean, what kind of a perfect world would it be if it were ruled by one of the bad guys?” 

Misa smiles. 

_ Maybe I’m not so stupid after all. _

* * *

 

When Light comes out of the elevator at task force headquarters, Misa can hardly contain her excitement. 

“Light!” she cries, waving and rushing to meet him. 

She wraps him up in a hug, touching him with a piece of notebook paper trapped between her fingers. She sees his eyes flick behind her as Ryuk becomes visible to him once again. 

“Long time, no see, Ryuk,” he says. 

Ryuk just chuckles. Light turns his attention back to Misa. 

“I take it you found the notebook then,” he says. 

“I did,” she says. 

“And Ryuzaki?” 

“Ugh, I thought for sure I wouldn’t remember, but I thought about it for a while, and I got it!” she says. 

“Good work, Misa. I don’t want to kill him yet, though. I’m going to wait until this case starts to run out of steam for that. Then we’ll be able to kill him without anyone getting suspicious. Until then, just continue with your life as normal.” 

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Misa says, “There’s something else I really need to talk to you about in private. Do you think we could go on a date some time soon? Oh, I know! You could come over to my place and we could have dinner!” 

Light sighs. 

“Misa, I need to be here as much as possible. If Ryuzaki goes into hiding, we won’t be able to confirm his death.” 

“It’ll only be for a few hours, promise. He wouldn’t have any reason to disappear right now anyway,” Misa says, “Please?” 

Light pauses for a moment before finally conceding. 

“Alright. Let’s say tomorrow night?” 

“Yay! What do you want for dinner? Should I cook or would you rather get takeout?” 

“Whatever you want.” 

“Ok, I’ll surprise you then! I’ll text you my address later. Meet at six?”

“Yeah. I should get back up there, now. See you tomorrow.” 

Misa smiles. 

“See you later, Light!”

* * *

 

“Oh I hope this is ok,” Misa murmurs staring at the bowls of rice and soup set out on the table. She wanted to cook something nice and traditional for tonight, after all they have plenty to celebrate, but she found herself running short on ingredients. No meat. Hardly any veggies. She hadn’t realized just how few meals she ate at home. She supposes at the very least it’ll taste good even if it isn’t perfect like she wanted it to be. At least she got the main parts figured out before time ran out.

She checks the clock. Five minutes to six. Is there anything else she needs to do? She checks her appearance again in the mirror. She knows her makeup is perfect and that her outfit is flawless as usual, but she figures it doesn’t hurt to do one more check. She looks at the table again and decides that’s as good as it’s going to get as well. She sits down and folds her hands, wishing the time would go faster so she could stop feeling so antsy. 

A buzz comes from the front door and she leaps up to answer it. 

“Hi Light!” she says as she opens the door, “You didn’t have too much trouble getting here, did you?” 

“No, not at all,” Light says, stepping inside, “This is a nice place you have here.” 

His eyes scan the room, pausing on the collections of various knickknacks, posters, and dripping candles. 

“It’s very...you,” he says. 

Misa giggles. 

“I have dinner all set. I would have liked to prepare more food, but I don’t usually cook, even for myself,” she says, “I’m just glad I still remember a few family recipes.”

“That’s alright. I’m sure whatever you made will be delicious,” he says. 

They sit down and start eating. Misa thinks as she sips her soup that this night feels almost perfect. If only she could avoid ruining it by bringing up Kira business. She’s tempted to forget about it, but she knows she can’t. She won’t get another chance like this. 

“So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” Light asks. 

Misa sets her bowl down and looks down at her hands for a moment, feeling an unexpected pang of foolishness for requesting something like this. She takes a breath. She’s made too big a deal out of this whole thing just to drop it now. 

“I was just thinking about something,” she says, “Um, I guess I’m wondering...do we  _ really _ have to kill Ryuzaki?” 

Light pauses a moment. She expects him to be taken aback by the question. She even expects him to be angry, but he just gives a small sigh and an understanding smile. 

“I can understand why you might be reluctant. You two did say you were friends,” he says. 

“No, that’s not what I mean,” she says, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I know he’s a threat to Kira and all, but he said so himself that knowing that Kira is you isn’t enough to solve the case, right? And I know you have a plan. That’s why they released me, after all! So why do we have to kill him?” 

“Keeping him alive is a huge risk, Misa. He doesn’t have any evidence, that’s true enough, but this is too important to allow any oversights. Any at all.” 

“But Light, it’s not like he’s a criminal.” 

Light scoffs. 

“Why does that matter? He’s opposed Kira from the beginning. Don’t you want to live in a perfect world? With no crime? No evil?” 

Misa huffs. 

“Of course I do! I’ve come this far, haven’t I?” she asks. 

She takes a breath. 

“When we first met, you told me that you didn’t want to hurt innocent people, and I believed that. You helped me see that what I was doing was wrong, like killing those TV hosts just to prove a point. You were right, I went too far.” 

“L isn’t like them though, Misa. He manipulates people to get what he wants. No doubt he’s only acting like you two are friends to get you to cooperate. Have you forgotten that he  _ tortured  _ you to get a confession out of you?” Light asks. 

“He only did that because he knew I was the second Kira and that I was dangerous. Because I killed innocent people. I’ve forgiven him for that,” she says, “And that’s not the point anyway. If we’re killing innocent people who haven’t committed any crimes, then we’re no better than the people we’re killing. If we want to make a perfect world, we need to hold ourselves to the same standards as everyone else. Isn’t that what you were trying to teach me, Light? I thought for sure you’d understand…”

Light’s mask of calm understanding shifts to disappointment and then frustration. Misa bites her lips as she looks at him, unnerved by his silence. 

“A-and you were right,” she adds, “I don’t want to kill someone I was just starting to become friends with, even if you’re right and he’s faking it. In the past I know I probably would have but...I don’t want that anymore.” 

_ How is anyone supposed to love me if I kill the ones who try?  _

“I see.” 

Light pushes back his chair and rises. His expression is cold. Deadly. 

“Misa, whatever friendship you  _ think _ you’ve formed with him, you’re going to have to put it aside. One way or another, Ryuzaki  _ will  _ die.” 

“Didn’t you say you were going to wait until the case ran out of steam to kill him? If the case goes cold and he doesn’t catch you, there’s no point in killing him!” 

“I’m not going to argue with you about this!”

“But Light, can’t you just-.” 

“This isn’t up for debate, Misa!” Light says, his voice rising. Misa sucks in a breath and shrinks back in her chair. He pauses a moment and takes a breath, as if realizing that he’s gone too far.

“Like I said, I’m not going to kill him just yet,” he says, “I need to come up with a plan. Until then, I want you to start judging criminals again for me.” 

“But...um, o-okay,” Misa says. Behind her, she hears Ryuk chuckle. As if she weren’t already on edge.

Light sighs. 

“I’m sorry for losing my temper,” he says. 

“Yeah, um, it’s fine,” Misa says, standing up and turning away from him. 

“No, it’s not,” he says. She sees him reach towards her out of the corner of her eye. 

“Actually I think I’d like to turn in for the night,” she interrupts, “But thank you for coming over and talking to me.”

_ Even if you didn’t listen to me at all.  _

Light stops and after a moment lets his hand fall back to his side. 

“Alright,” he says, “I’ll text you later, ok?” 

“Ok.” 

Misa turns and watches as he heads for the front door, feeling somewhat guilty for pushing him away. Part of her wants to call him back and apologize immediately, but she doesn’t. She bites down on her lip again. 

“Goodnight, Misa,” he says. 

And then he’s gone, leaving her alone in the dark and the silence. She takes a deep breath and slumps back into her chair, feeling as if all the energy has been drained out of her. She groans. 

“That didn’t go well at all,” she mutters. 

“His mind seems pretty made up,” Ryuk comments. 

“I’ll say. I’ve never seen him so angry,” she says, “He’s probably absolutely furious with me now.” 

Ryuk chuckles. 

“I bet he’s panicking a little right now.” 

Misa turns and looks at him. 

“Panicking? Why?” 

“He needs you to figure out L’s name,  _ and _ he needs you to punish criminals since he’s busy keeping an eye on the task force. If you stop cooperating, his entire plan will fall apart.”

“Huh. I guess I never thought of it like that,” she says, “That’s why he asked me to start killing people again. He’s got some nerve though! Asking me for favors when he won’t give me one. And did you see how he totally didn’t listen to me when I told him we shouldn’t kill innocent people? I mean, he’s the one who taught me that! When did he start being such a hypocrite?” 

She huffs and stares at her mostly uneaten dinner. Ryuk laughs. 

“Trust me, that’s nothing new. I asked him the same question when we first met. I told him if he killed all the bad people in the world, that would make him the only bad person left. He didn’t seem to care.”

“Wow, are you serious? What’s with that?” 

She stands up again and starts cleaning up the table. As she puts dishes in the sink and boxes up leftovers for tomorrow, she ruminates on all the things she’s learned up until now, wondering what she should do. 

_ I still believe in what Light is doing, or...at least what Kira is doing anyway, but I still don’t want Ryuzaki to die. Can I have both or do I have to pick one? And can Light even be trusted anymore? If he’s so willing to kill innocent people, then he’s not so different from me, and he told me himself that my way of doing things doesn’t hold with Kira’s ideals. Maybe the Kira I thought I was helping doesn’t exist anymore. What should I do if that’s true?  _

“I’m so confused,” she groans, “I don’t know what to think anymore. I’m going to go to bed.” 

_ Maybe this will all make sense in the morning. Maybe then I’ll know what to do, because I know I can’t just sit back and do nothing. What happens next is all up to me now.  _


	2. L Sticks It To The Reaper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait to post this chapter (space it out a bit, ya know?) but I'm going on vacation for a bit so yay! Fast update!

It was around three in the morning the last time L looked at a clock, but that doesn’t mean anything. Anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour could have passed since then, but he’s been so wrapped up in his own head, mulling over the case, that keeping track of time is the last thing he’s worried about. The time hardly matters anyway. He knows he won’t be sleeping tonight, so why worry about how late or early it is? Not an unusual habit for him. He doesn’t sleep so much as take catnaps when he’s sure no one’s around to see.

He wonders if Watari is still awake at this hour. It’s not likely, but he knows the older man is a light sleeper. He can get up and be ready for action so fast, that he may as well not be asleep at all. He’s dependable that way.

The intercom beeps from across the room, as if Watari heard L’s thoughts and felt it necessary to assure him he’s still here. L gets up from the couch and walks over to the monitor. Any exhaustion that may have started to set in is shaken off as he wonders what on Earth Watari could want at this time of night. Something must have happened, surely. He hits the “talk” button on the microphone.

“Yes, what is it, Watari?” he asks.

“I’m glad you’re awake. We have a visitor,” Watari says.

_A visitor? Who would be coming here this late? Maybe it’s a homeless person._

“Are they lost?” he asks.

“No, it’s Miss Amane. She says she wants to talk to you. I told her I would see if you were up,” Watari answers.

A handful of scenarios run through his head within seconds.

_I know Amane has to be the second Kira, regardless of that 13 day rule, and now that she’s been out for a little while, she’s had plenty of opportunities to get her hands on the second notebook. I know there has to be one, and I can’t imagine she or Light would put it somewhere out of reach. If she still has the power to see people’s names...no that doesn’t make sense. If she still had that power it would have become obvious by now, unless she found a way to get it back since being released. Could she really be here to kill me? If she’s still working with Light I doubt they’d use such an obvious ruse. It’s not like him. It’s not even like her. She’s more clever than she looks. That business with Higuchi proved as much._

“She promises that she doesn’t have a notebook on her and that she has something important to tell you,” Watari continues.

_Notebook? So she assumes that I think she has one and that she is the second Kira. If this is a ruse it’s the most obvious ruse I’ve ever seen. Could she be telling the truth? Does she really just want to talk? And why would she come so late? If she were here to kill me she probably would have picked a time when most people would be awake to make sure that she saw me. She doesn’t need me alone to get my name because once she has my name she can kill me at any time. If she’s here so early to talk to me specifically, then she must know my patterns and know that no one but myself and Watari is going to be awake. She doesn’t want anyone else to be around, then. Maybe she really does just want to talk._

“Should I let her in?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Alright. She’ll be up in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Watari. Oh, and if it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could send some tea down?”

“It’s no problem at all. I’ll send a cart down in the elevator.”

“Thank you. You may go back to sleep after that if you like. I can handle Miss Amane by myself.”

“Of course.”

There’s a click on the other end and L releases the “talk” button. He pauses a moment before walking back over to the couch. He’s not entirely sure what to do with himself as he sits and waits for something to happen. He picks up some of the documents he’d been examining earlier, though he can’t focus on them enough to absorb the information. He lifts his head when, after a few minutes, the door on the other end of the room slides open and Misa Amane walks through.

She’s dressed to kill as usual, though her plucky confidence is largely absent. Her hands are clamped around the handle of her purse, and she stares at the floor rather than meet his eye.

“Ah, Miss Amane,” L says, “Have a seat. I hope the trip over here wasn’t too stressful.”

“No, it was alright,” she says.

She sits down on the couch across from him. As she does, the elevator pings. Neither of them say anything or move. Misa looks over at the elevator and gives him a confused look. L suddenly remembers they’re the only people here and that he’s going to have to get it himself. He sighs and stands up again. Sitting in the elevator is a small cart with two tea cups, a steaming pot of tea, some cream and sugar, and a few scones. He feels a brief pang of nostalgia for England, but it disappears quickly as he wheels the cart over to the couches. He has more important things to be focusing on.

“Would you care for some tea?” he asks, pouring himself a cup and adding a liberal amount of sugar cubes.

“Um, sure. Black is fine,” Misa says, “Thanks.”

He pours her a cup of tea and passes it to her. She moves to take a sip but seems to regret it immediately as the hot water touches her tongue. She puts it down on the table to wait for it to cool. L sits back down and watches her carefully.

“I’ll admit I’m surprised to see you. I thought for sure you’d never want to come back inside after being here for so long,” he says.

“I didn’t think so either,” she admits, “But...but this is important.”

“Alright, so what is it?” he asks, taking a drink from his tea cup.

“I…” she starts. She stops and takes a breath, steeling herself, “I’m here to cut a deal with you. You were right, I am the second Kira, and I can give you evidence leading to the first if you can stop them from killing me.”

L stops right in the middle of putting his teacup down. He knows he shouldn’t be showing any kind of weakness in front of her, any sort of emotion she could pick up on and use, but he’s honestly so stunned that she came out and admitted it. He freezes for a moment before finally placing his cup down on the table. He searches her face for any signs of deception, but all he sees is a scared girl who can’t believe she just admitted to multiple counts of murder.

“You’re serious,” he says.

“Of course I’m serious! I wouldn’t lie about something like this,” she says.

“Do you have proof that this isn’t some kind of trick? Did Kira tell you to do this?”

“No, he didn’t. He doesn't even know I’m here,” she says, “I have proof that I’m not lying, too. I can tell you exactly where my notebook is hidden. Li-...Kira thinks it’s buried in a forest somewhere, but it’s not. I also have another shinigami with me. Where’s the one with you? I know she has to be here.”

L frowns. They never told Misa about the shinigami. Word about the notebook Higuchi used probably got to her through Light. L never told anyone _not_ to tell Misa about it. However, he did tell them not to tell her about the shinigami attached to it. She couldn’t have known about it if she _wasn’t_ the second Kira. Having a shinigami of her own would only further prove her claim.

“The shinigami is impossible to track with video surveillance, so I’m afraid I’m not sure where she is right now. It’s not like we can do anything to keep her from doing as she pleases,” he says.

“Oh, ok,” she says.

“You said that your notebook is hidden somewhere, so how am I going to see this shinigami with you?”

“I tore a piece out of my notebook. I made it small enough that I couldn’t write on it easily, not that it would matter since I don’t know your real name anyway. It’s in my pocket.”

“So just by touching a piece of paper from the notebook, I’ll be able to see your shinigami?”

“Yes,” she says. She pauses a moment and reaches into the pocket of her jacket. She withdraws a small scrap of white paper and holds it out to him, “Here.”

He reaches out and takes the scrap. Just like before when he touched the notebook belonging to Higuchi, he doesn’t feel any different. The only indication that this small scrap of paper did something out of the ordinary is the appearance of the hulking figure behind Misa who was most certainly not there before. The shinigami is grinning at him, though it’s impossible to tell if it’s a passing facial expression or if the creature’s face is just stuck like that.

“So you’re the infamous L,” he says, “I have to say, I never thought I’d get to meet you. I thought for sure you’d die before then. My name is Ryuk.”

_Two shinigami. I never thought I’d even see one._

“Ryuk, can you answer a question for me?”

“Hm? Sure.”

“If Miss Amane really is the second Kira, which given the evidence I’m inclined to believe, then how has she gotten around the thirteen day rule?”

“Oh that? That rule is totally fake. I wrote it in there because I was asked to, but there’s no point in denying it now.”

_I knew it._

“Thank you,” L says.

_If that rule is fake, then there’s no doubt in my mind that Light Yagami_ is _Kira. I have ample evidence to prove it now. Amane must realize this. I’m guessing she hasn’t mentioned Light by name because she’s still hoping I’ll cut a deal with her. Even so, she has to know that I can prove Light is Kira without her help. Maybe something other than self preservation is motivating her. What could that be? Does she not agree with Light anymore? That doesn’t seem likely unless something drastic happened. She practically worships Kira. It’s why she went to all the trouble of becoming the second Kira. So what’s bothering her?_

“You didn’t come here just to make a deal with me, Miss Amane,” he says, “I don’t need a testimony from you to put Light away for the rest of his life, so something else must be troubling you.”

Misa stares at him, eyes wide, though she doesn’t seem shocked by his conclusion. She sighs and looks at her hands.

“Alright, fine. You’re right, there is something else,” she says, “Um…we’re still friends, right Ryuzaki?”

He cocks his head, confused by the derailment of the conversation.

“Well...yes, I suppose. Do you consider me a friend, despite what I’ve done to you?”

“I know why you did all those things, because I’m dangerous, so I forgive you for that. The reason I ask is because Kira...well, I guess it doesn’t matter now if I say his name. Light asked me to kill you. When we met at To-oh University, I still had the shinigami eyes and I saw your name. He thought I could remember it and then he could use me to kill you whenever he felt like it but...I didn’t want to. It just felt so wrong to me. And then Light and I had a fight about it and…”

She trails off. She doesn’t have to continue for L to get the jist.

_Something Light said to her clashed with her image of Kira and his ideals, enough for her to want to turn Light in. I can’t say I dislike the results, but this is the last scenario I expected when I imagined finally catching Kira._

“I understand,” he says.

It starts to sink in as he ruminates on her words just how close he came to losing. The possibility of dying was always real and something he was willing to face, but he never honestly believed it would happen. If she hadn’t come to him to warn him, how long before Light came up with a plan to get rid of him? The existence of the shinigami and the rules of the Death Note add so many variables. L isn’t confident he would have been able to predict Light’s plan. He suddenly feels uncomfortably aware of his own heartbeat as his heart rate spikes in fear of what could have happened. He focuses instead on Misa who is still avoiding his gaze. She’s picked up her cup again and is sipping her tea. He wonders if she’s as frightened by her possible futures as he is of his own.

“Miss Amane.”

She lowers her cup and looks up at him. He takes a breath.

“I believe you just saved my life.”

She beams at him.

“Really? You think so?” she asks.

“Yes,” he says, “I...I appreciate it. I imagine it was difficult for you.”

“Yeah, I about worried myself to death wondering what I should do,” she says with a sigh. After a moment of silence her happy demeanor gives way to worry again.

“So…” she says, “If you already know Light is Kira and have enough evidence to prove it...there’s probably not much hope for me then, is there?”

L has to stop and think about that for a moment. She’s right of course. If he doesn’t make a deal with her, the governments of the world will most certainly vote to have her and Light executed in secret and the notebooks destroyed. Normally he’d be fine with that, even suggest it, but now it doesn’t sit quite right with him. At least in Misa’s case.

_She came in here knowing that her freedom and even her life could be taken away from her in order to turn in Light, a man she loves and worships, and to save my life, even after I’ve deprived her of her freedom and privacy. I can’t let her be executed for that._

“Well,” he says, taking a sip of his tea, “I mean, Kira _has_ been using a, for all intents and purposes, magical notebook to commit these murders. Only Higuchi’s handwriting is present in the notebook we have, so we don’t have much forensic evidence. Even the circumstantial evidence is something only I can attest to with complete confidence. A testimony by someone who has witnessed the killing power of the notebook and the crimes of Kira first hand could be beneficial.”

Misa squeals and jumps up from the couch faster than L can react, and before he knows it she’s throwing her arms around him.

“Thank you so much, Ryuzaki. You won’t regret it, I promise,” she says.

He sighs and debates pushing her away, but in the end decides to accept it, reasoning that she’ll let go of him in a second. Before she does, she plants a kiss on his cheek. It doesn’t surprise him as much as the first one she gave him, but that doesn’t diminish its effects.

_You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you._

She walks back over to her couch, a new spring in her step.

“Hm, I guess I can’t go home now, huh?” she asks.

“No, I’m afraid not, but your room upstairs is still available,” he says.

“Great! Oh wait, what about Light? You’re not going to tell him I’m here are you? I came here so early because I was sure he’d be asleep by now,” she says.

“No, I won’t tell him. And I trust the shinigami won’t say anything either given how they don’t seem to care one way or another who wins or loses.”

Ryuk chuckles.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure this will be interesting enough without me telling Light what’s going on, and I doubt Rem will side with him either,” he says.

“Miss Amane-”

“Oh please, just call me Misa from now on. We’re partners now, right? Working together to catch Kira!”

“Uh, alright. Misa, there’s some paperwork and questioning you’ll have to go through with the rest of the taskforce to confirm your story. We have to make sure we have all the details-”

Misa interrupts him with an excited gasp.

“Rem!” she cries.

She runs past the couches towards the bank of computers. L turns around to see that the other shinigami has reappeared from wherever she’d been hiding. Misa jumps up to hug Rem, exclaiming how it’s been so long. Rem looks surprised to say the least, but she quickly turns suspicious. L feels a chill run down his spine as her eyes meet his.

“Misa, what are you doing here?” she asks.

“I’m turning myself in,” Misa replies, “But it’s ok! Ryuzaki promised he’s going to keep me from getting executed in secret, so you don’t need to kill him.”

“Is this true?” Rem asks, looking at L.

“All I said is her testimony might be helpful in solving the case,” L says, “though it’s true criminals who turn in their counterparts are sometimes given legal protection.”

Misa giggles.

“You’re so silly. He means yes.”

“And what about Light Yagami’s plan?” Rem asks.

“Oh this isn’t part of that. He doesn’t even know I’m here,” Misa says, “We...kind of had a fight. He’s just not the Kira I thought he was.”

“Well it makes no different to me what happens to him so long as you’re happy, Misa,” Rem replies, “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I thought about it a lot, and I know this is the right thing to do.”

“Very well then, I won’t interfere, but-”

“But if something happens and I get killed you’ll kill Ryuzaki. Yeah I know, Rem.”

L takes another sip of his tea.

_The number of people who want me dead is really getting ridiculous._

“Misa, if I needed you to, could you help us trick Light into revealing himself to us?” L asks.

“Hm? What do you mean by that?” she asks, turning away from Rem.

“While your testimony will be very helpful in proving to the world that Light is, in fact, Kira. In order to truly bring this case to a close, I believe some harder evidence may be needed. I want to try and lure him into a trap that will force him to show his hand,” he says.

He picks a scone up off the cart and breaks a piece off.

“Is killing me all he asked you to do? I need to know exactly what his plan from here on out is.”

“Well, his first plan was for me to remember your name and write it down in my notebook. I told him that I did remember it, but I lied. I honestly have no idea what it is,” she says.

“So he believes that you can kill me at any time, but you also said you had a fight.”

“Yeah. I tried to convince him that you didn’t have any evidence because of that fake rule, but he didn’t seem to care. Then he asked me to keep killing criminals for him since he couldn’t do it.”

“But when you were first released he didn’t ask you to do this. He didn’t ask you to start killing again until after you two had your fight.”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” he says, popping the scone piece into his mouth, “his reasoning behind this seems pretty obvious to me. He figured since you weren’t going to follow through with Plan A that it was time to try something else. If criminals started dying right after you were released, he figured I would narrow in on you again. And he would be correct. That’s exactly where I’d look if something like that happened.”

“W-wow, really?” Misa asks, “Even with the fake rule?”

“Assuming I don’t know the rule is fake, my next course of action would be to test the notebook to make sure that the rule really is real. Before now, that was the only piece that didn’t make sense to me. If I can prove the truth or falsity of the rule, I can solve the entire case,” L says, “I’m sure Light knows this as well. He knows how fixated I am on him being Kira and you being the second Kira, so he knows I wouldn’t give up on that theory easily. He knows I’ll want to test the notebook to make sure. Doing so would most certainly lead to your arrest, had you chosen to start killing again. You would be arrested in secret and likely executed without a trial.”

“If you did this, Ryuzaki, you would be directly responsible for Misa’s death. In that case, I would have no choice but to kill you,” Rem says.

L’s eyes widen a touch.

_That’s it then. That’s how he’d kill me._

“Would you be more likely to kill me before Misa’s arrest in order to save her life? Or would you kill me after as revenge?” he asks, breaking off another piece of his scone.

“If I could I would do it before,” Rem answers.

“But Rem doesn’t that mean you would die because you saved me? Aw, you really care that much about me?!” Misa asks, “That’s so sweet!”

“Does Light know about your devotion to Misa?” L asks.

“Yes. He does,” Rem says, “You are not the first person I’ve threatened in order to ensure Misa’s safety.”

_If he got Rem to kill me, and Misa is correct in saying Rem would die for doing so, that means not only am I out of his way, but so is Rem who seems to be a sort of wildcard because of her devotion to Misa. She did turn against him rather easily once she learned I would keep Misa from getting executed. There’s nothing saying she wouldn’t do so under similar circumstances. If she doesn’t care whether he lives or dies, it would stand to reason that she would kill him if any harm came to Misa because of him. Misa has proven to be unreliable and even a hindrance to Light’s plans, so I doubt he would have kept her around this long if Rem weren’t hovering over him threatening to kill him. If Rem were gone, he could get rid of Misa the minute she proved to be a liability. This is all starting to make sense._

“Misa, you’re not going to like me for saying this, but it seems to me that Light has been willing from the very beginning to kill you to further his own goals. I doubt he ever really loved you,” L says, “He just let you believe that he did so you would be easier to manipulate. I think Rem and Ryuk can attest to that as well.”

Misa puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. She opens her mouth to protest, but something in her eyes tells L she’s just going through the motions at this point. She knows deep down it’s true, even if she doesn’t want to believe it. Rem stops her before she can go on a tirade.

“Misa, I know you want desperately for Light Yagami to love you, but he cares for no one but himself. If love is what you want, you will not get any from him,” she says.

Misa pauses and looks at Rem for a moment, trying to be angry, but it doesn't stick. After a moment her face falls, and L actually feels sorry for her.

“I just...I thought maybe I could change his mind,” she says.

Rem doesn't say anything, but L is sure he knows what she's thinking.

_Not likely._

“Misa, can I assume then that you're willing to cooperate with us?” he asks.

“Yeah, I am,” she sighs.

“Good. If we're going to catch Light in the act, we need to act as if his plan is working. To do this, we need to do exactly what he would expect. Misa, you need to act as if you're killing criminals. We’ll work with the news and the police to make it appear as if criminals are dying again. In the meantime, I will act as if I'm still investigating the thirteen day rule. Rem, whatever I may say concerning Misa during this time, know that I have no intention of harming her,” he says.

“Ok, so we play along with Light’s plan and then what?” Misa asks.

“Light is most likely to slip up and reveal something if he gets emotional,” L says, “Another trick with Mr. Yagami likely won’t work, and anything having to do with his mother or sister wouldn’t trigger the response we want because they have nothing to do with the case.”

He eats the scone piece still trapped between his fingers and stares down at his teacup, resting on the table.

_We need to take a different approach. We’re not trying to upset Light Yagami, we’re trying to upset Kira. Well...upset may not be the right word._

“I’m going to have to speak to Watari and someone else from the taskforce about this. We’re going to fake my death.”

* * *

 

Misa feels exhausted when she finally returns to headquarters for the third time that morning. She was fine with accompanying Mogi to her apartment to retrieve her Death Note after he’d been informed of the plan, but coming back to headquarters to go over final details felt a little gratuitous, and now this? This just feels cruel. She’s taken too many car trips, talked about too many complicated plans, and gotten too little sleep to be in any sort of mood to speak to anyone, much less Light. However, L stressed that getting this done as soon as possible would be in everyone’s best interest, so she agreed. She hopes that when Light comes down to talk to her that he’ll just think she’s tired because of their disagreement. She pushes the intercom button by the front door and waits until Watari answers. She doesn’t have to tell him why she’s here. He says Light will be down in a few minutes.

When Light appears in the elevator soon after, Misa feels a barrage of conflicting emotions. Part of her wants to run up and slap him, and another part wants to break down and confess to him what she did earlier this morning. She puts on her biggest smile instead and runs to hug him, deciding to pretend that he’s not using her as a pawn in his plans, that he never lied about loving her, that he’s not going to be in prison soon, and that everything really is fine.

“Misa, what are you doing here?” he asks.

“Light, I’m so sorry about what I said earlier,” she says, “I do want to create a perfect world with you. I want to be helpful to you. I’ll start killing criminals again soon, promise.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re still with me, Misa,” he says.

“But, I’m still not going to kill Ryuzaki. Not myself anyway. I don’t want his blood on my hands,” she says, “Do you have some other plan?”

He pauses and sighs.

“Luckily for us, I do,” he says.

“I knew you would!” she says, “You’re so smart. What can I do to help?”

“Right now I just want you to continue judging criminals,” he says, “but be careful. Don’t do it at home and watch for surveillance cameras.”

“Gotcha.”

He pauses a moment and looks her in the eye. He puts his hands on her shoulders and smiles.

“Together, you and I are going to create a perfect world.”

Misa sighs happily.

“Oh Light…”

_You have no idea what’s coming._

* * *

 

The next morning does not start on a happy note. As the 8 o’clock news begins, it marks the beginning of what looks like more trouble for the already frustrated task force. Sixteen criminals all reported dead in a single night, and all killed by heart attacks. However, for L, the plan couldn't be going more smoothly. Whatever Watari did to get the news stations to broadcast this false information is working perfectly, and even their own team doesn’t suspect that anything is out of place. If only “everything going according to plan” didn’t mean “Matsuda yelling about new case developments at 8 in the morning.” No one wins.

“Aaah why is this happening?!” Matsuda groans.

Light crosses his arms as he looks at the monitors.

“This proves it then. There has to be another notebook out there,” he says, “Right, Rem?”

L glances at the shinigami out of the corner of his eye. He has to wonder if shinigami are just naturally good actors or if Rem has done this before. Her expression is perfectly neutral. Apathetic to the plight of the humans around her.

“Must be,” she says, “A shinigami wouldn’t go out of their way to kill only criminals.”

L looks back up at the monitors, crunching a small cookie between his teeth.

“This happens the moment Amane is freed…” he says.

“You’re still going on about that?!” Light exclaims, “This has nothing to do with Misa. She’s already been cleared of suspicion, and even if she did have Kira’s powers, she wouldn’t be stupid enough to use them at a time like this. If you’re talking about timing, say ‘the moment Higuchi died.’”

_Oh Light, you’re so predictable._

“Yes, that’s true,” L murmurs.

As expected the rest of the task force is quick to agree with Light, proclaiming that the thirteen day rule proves her innocence and that he’s too obsessed with the theory that Misa is the second Kira. It takes all his willpower not to glare at them and call them all idiots, but he knows he can’t lest this whole plan be jeopardized.

_I’m still supposed to be depressed that my theory appears to be wrong. Any reaction that doesn’t fall in line with that will make Light suspicious._

“Yes, I apologize,” he says, “Well, if there is another notebook out there, whoever is using it will definitely be caught.”

The task force seems pacified, but he can sense their lingering annoyance. He’s honestly amazed that no one is at all suspicious of the one tiny thread of evidence on which both Light and Misa’s innocence depends completely. It’s not exactly an overwhelming vote of confidence.

_I guess they really are that desperate to believe Kira is some grotesque villain hiding in the shadows and not these two charming, talented kids they’ve all come to know. I can’t say I understand it though. As police officers, you would think catching a mass murderer would be more important._

“But we’re talking about a notebook that kills people simply by having someone’s name written in it. If this new Kira is only killing criminals, they’re going to be a lot harder to locate than Higuchi was,” Matsuda says.

“We know how Kira kills now,” L replies, “If we find a suspect, all we need to do is apprehend them and search for the notebook.”

“But Ryuzaki, this notebook...I believe it’s power is real, but even if we do catch someone writing names in it, will we even be able to try that person as a serial killer?” Light asks.

L glances over at Light and narrows his eyes before turning his attention back to the computer.

_He’s moving quickly. He knows bringing up the subject of a trial will lead to discussion of punishment. He knows we’ll eventually mention that Kira will likely be executed in secret if caught, which is exactly the kind of information he knows will set Rem off. I hope Watari has everything ready. Once Rem gives us the signal, this is all going to happen very fast._

“Not unless the notebook’s effectiveness is proven,” he replies, “but once the case is solved I’ll let the courts worry about that.”

“Wait, of course you could punish him without testing the notebook,” Matsuda says.

Mr. Yagami sighs.

“Matsuda, for that we’d have to submit the notebook as evidence in a court of law,” he says.

“Well...I mean I’m not talking about that,” Matsuda says, “Kira is writing names down knowing that those people will die. If we don’t want the existence of the notebook revealed to the public, the suspect should be executed in secret.”

“That’s a harsh conclusion, but I bet it’s what our superiors would demand,” Aizawa says.

L cracks another cookie between his fingers.

_That’s it. Now all that’s left is to make a move to test the rule._

“Let’s contact a country that would be willing to cooperate with us,” he says, “We’ll have them use the notebook for an execution.”

The outrage from the task force comes swiftly and burns as hot as a furnace. Their protests all overlap as panic sets in.

“You mean to test it?!” Mr. Yagami cries.

“There’s no need to do that! The power of the notebook is clearly real!” Aizawa says.

“And who’s going to write the name? You have to keep writing names or you’ll die!” Matsuda adds.

“We’ll have a criminal scheduled to be executed within thirteen days write the name,” L says, “If they survive, their death sentence will be overturned.”

He hits the intercom button.

“Watari, please contact the leader of a country who will agree to this,” he says.

“Right away,” Watari replies.

Aizawa shouts something else in protest, but L is no longer paying attention. He doesn’t turn to look for Rem directly, but he can tell that she’s already gone as her hulking form is no longer in his peripheral vision. He doesn’t know when she might have slipped away or where she could have gone, but it doesn’t matter. The die has already been cast.

A loud crash comes from Watari’s end.

“What’s wrong, Watari?” L asks, leaning forward in his chair. The rest of the task force stops panicking for a brief moment, focusing instead on whatever brand new problem they’re about to face.

“Watari…?”

There’s no answer. Another clattering sound comes from the control room, and the computers all emit a high pitched beep. Like a rolling wave, a new image takes over each of the screens, covering up footage, charts, and documents with the same troubling message: All data deleted.

“Data deletion?!” Light says.

L narrows his eyes.

“I told Watari that if something ever happened to him, he should set up the system to automatically erase all the data on the computers,” he says.

“If something were to happen…?!” Matsuda starts.

He doesn’t finish his sentence. Before any of them knows what’s happening, the lights have all gone out. For less than a second they’re plunged into darkness before the auxiliary power kicks in. A loud whirring sound echoes through the building, and dim, red emergency lights illuminate the room as the system switches over to the generator. The shadows around them grow longer and darker, touching every corner of the room except for the area directly in front of the computer bank. L looks over his shoulder at the task force, scanning the room with his eyes.

“Where is the shinigami?” he asks.

Everyone notices at once that Rem is gone. The level of fear in the room continues to rise, threatening to paralyze and eventually drown them.

“Everyone, the shinigami has turned against us. We need to act quickly if we are to avoid being killed as well,” he says.

“What?! What do you mean by that?!” Matsuda cries.

“Shut up, Matsuda! We need to find that thing before it does anything else!” Aizawa yells.

Everyone rushes for the stairs at once, their footsteps echoing like thunder.

“Light, stay here,” L says before Light can get much further, “I need you to help me try to reboot the cameras.”

The rest of the task force disappears. L hears someone bark a few panicked orders before the sound of their voices disappears entirely.

“But, Ryuzaki, we both know shinigami are difficult to track with those!” Light protests, “It’s not going to do us any good!”

_Now. This is it. While we’re alone._

“I know, but we don’t have any-”

He cuts himself off. He lets his eyes become unfocused as he stares off into space. He imagines his heart stopping, hoping that might make this performance more convincing, but he realizes he hasn’t a clue what such a thing might feel like. He relaxes and lets himself fall. Light stares back at him, a look of shock on his face. It may be the most genuine expression of emotion L has ever seen from him. If they’re lucky, it won’t be the last.

Pain shoots through L’s arm and shoulders as his body hits the ground. The chair tips as well, bouncing and clattering on the tile. His heart starts to race as he realizes that he has no idea what Light will do now. He’s counting on him gloating or otherwise doing something that might reveal he is Kira, but beyond that...he isn’t sure how his adversary will choose to send him off. L isn’t used to being at the mercy of the people he hunts, and now, in this moment, he realizes why he’s never thought much about it. He’s never been so frightened in his life.

He hears the click of Light’s footsteps as the other man approaches him. Light crouches next to him and looms over him, blocking one of the overhead lights. A smug smile creeps across his face, and there’s a red glint in his eye, hateful and triumphant. This is not Light Yagami, the valiant honor student ready to risk his life for truth and justice. That boy died as soon as he wrote the first name. Something else has made a home in his heart and his bones, a demon hungry for power and glory. The temperature of the room seems to drop by ten degrees.

“I guess this is it for you and me,” he says, “I almost think I’ll miss our little battles, but once you’re gone, I’ll have more important things to worry about.”

L doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. He’s sure the mute horror on his face is sufficient. It’s the one thing he doesn’t have to fake as he finally faces the monster, raw and unfiltered. Light’s expression turns dark.

“You’re finished, L,” he growls, “I win.”

_For now, Light Yagami. For now._

L closes his eyes, finally retreating into the darkness of his mind where he doesn’t have to confront the future that could have been.

Now comes the difficult part. As the air drains from his lungs, he stops breathing altogether. In the next few seconds, Light will either have to run off to find the others or Mogi will have to come down the stairs and find them. If neither happens, L knows he won’t be able to stop his body from rebelling and taking a breath. Light may, in this moment, be too blinded by his victory to think to check for a pulse, but he will certainly notice a breath from a man who is supposed to be dead. L starts counting in his head to distract himself from the burning sensation in his chest, but he doesn’t have to go too far. He hears footsteps on the stairs.

“Ryuzaki, the shinigami isn’t-”

Mogi stops as he takes in the scene before him.

“I-I don’t know what happened, he just collapsed!” Light says.

“Go find your dad. Call an ambulance,” Mogi says.

“Uh, right,” Light says.

There’s a cacophony of footsteps as Light stands and Mogi runs over.

“Light, hurry,” Mogi says. More footsteps echo through the room as Light runs for the stairs and disappears. L’s lungs finally give in as he feels Mogi’s arms slide under him and lift him off the floor. The room is silent, though the thoughts spinning through L’s head make it seem as loud as a schoolyard.

“Are you alright?” Mogi breaths.

“We have what we need,” L replies before falling silent again. He hears voices drift down from the top of the stairs and hopes that the task force won’t make too much of a scene. The sooner Mogi can get him out of here the better.

“Wh-?! Mogi, what’s going on?!” Mr. Yagami exclaims. L can just see the look of shock on his face.

“We need to get him to the hospital,” Mogi says, “Did you call an ambulance?”

“Well, yes, but…” Mr. Yagami says, “Oh God.”

“Mogi, why don’t you meet them outside. We’ll keep searching for the shinigami,” Light says, “If we don’t it’s going to be us she kills next.”

“Aah, no!” Matsuda cries.

“Shut up, Matsuda! We don’t have any time to lose!” Mr. Yagami barks.

_What I wouldn’t give to actually be unconscious now._

Finally Mogi starts moving for the exit. L hears the hiss of the security doors and the way the echo of Mogi’s footsteps changes as they move for the street. He knows they’re outside when the scent of rain reaches his nose. He opens his eyes in time to see lightning crackle across the sky, bathing the city in blinding white light for a fraction of a second.

“Alright, Mr. Mogi, I think you can put me down now,” L says.

“Can’t the cameras still see us?” Mogi asks.

“Technically yes, but when Watari shut down the system he should have made it so none of them can be viewed, even from the control room.”

“Ok. You’re a lot heavier than you look by the way.”

The ground is cold under L’s feet and damp from the mist thrown up by raindrops as they collide with the building. Another bolt of lighting illuminates the street, followed by a crack of thunder. L puts his hands in his pockets.

“So how are we going to explain calling an ambulance for someone who isn’t actually hurt?” Mogi asks.

“We won’t have to. I have no doubt Mr. Yagami used the emergency landline inside since no one on the task force actually has their cell phones on them at the moment. For today we set the line up so that no matter which number you dialed you would get the same phone. We had Iber man the other end of the line, which I admit was a risk, but I doubt that in his panic Mr. Yagami noticed,” L says, “A fake ambulance should be arriving momentarily.”

Mogi sighs.

“Of course. Should have known.”

Soon enough they hear the sound of sirens down the road, and seconds later they see the reflection of flashing red lights on the sides of the skyscrapers and in the puddles on the sidewalk. The ambulance pulls up and parks in front of the steps. Two people in EMT uniforms exit, though they don’t appear to be in any sort of hurry. They start unloading a stretcher. L looks at Mogi.

“Mr. Mogi, why don’t you show them in. By now the others will have found Watari and the control room. I’ll be waiting in the ambulance,” he says, “If another member of the task force wishes to accompany us to the hospital, let them.”

“What about Light?”

“Obviously he shouldn’t be allowed to come, but I doubt he’ll ask. He watched me die after all. He doesn’t need anymore proof.”

Mogi nods and leads the fake EMT team towards the elevators. L pauses at the top of the stairs and watches the rain as it continues to fall. The air tastes unusually fresh with the tang of the city washed out of it. He can still hear the hum of the cars and buses as they commute, but it’s so mixed up with the pounding of the rain and crackling of thunder that it’s almost imperceptible to those who don’t care to listen. It hasn’t quite sunk in, but he realizes that this really is it for this case. They got their proof, and now all that’s left is to confront Light about it. Even if he tries something crazy to save his own skin, it won’t result in any meaningful outcome.

_We’ve caught Kira at last. Now what am I going to do with myself?_

He steps out from under the awning over the entrance and into the rain. He’s soaked almost immediately, but the chill doesn’t bother him. The sensation is grounding, and it forces him out of his mind and into his body if only for a little bit. It brings him back to the present. The feeling ends as soon as he ducks out of the downpour and into the back of the ambulance. He sits on the bench there and watches as drops of water collect at the ends of his hair and drop to the metal floor below. Before long there’s a small pool below him, glinting in the dim light.

The EMTs arrive first with the stretcher. L can’t see Watari because the EMTs made a show of zipping him up into a body bag, but he knows he’s in there. He hopes the older man will be alright. When planning everything out they decided it would be too difficult for L to take any drugs to slow his heartbeat and breathing without drawing attention to the act, but Watari felt it would be prudent for him to take the drug, and L agreed. Watari would be exposed for longer to people not privy to the plan once he was discovered whereas Mogi could easily come in and take L away immediately once they got the confession they needed out of Light. However, L still worried about the effect it might have on his caretaker’s health given that Watari is not a young man. He tells himself to stop worrying about it. The doctors at the hospital won’t let anything happen to him.

Mogi gets in next. Following behind him is Mr. Yagami.

Mr. Yagami stops and stares, still half out of the ambulance, when his eyes land on L.

“Ryuzaki?! But…”

“Please remain calm, Mr. Yagami. Everything is under control,” L says.

Mr. Yagami seems to mentally slap the shock out of himself, and he gets into the ambulance. One EMT gets in with them while the other shuts the door behind them and gets into the driver’s seat.

“What on Earth is going on?” Mr. Yagami asks.

“There’re too much information to go over right now, but I promise you’ll get the full story later,” L says.

“Can you at least tell me what the point of all this is? I assume it has to do with the investigation.”

“Yes, you’re correct. We’re investigating a lead, and I’d say we got some good evidence.”

“Evidence…?”

“Mr. Yagami, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid Light _is_ Kira.”

Mr. Yagami is reeling by this point, and L feels sorry for him, having to take in so much troubling information at once, but it can’t be helped. There’s no point in trying to let him down easy.

“The thirteen day rule proving his and Miss Amane’s innocence is fake,” L continues, “I have the word of two shinigami that this is the case. This act Watari and I put on was an attempt to bait Light into saying something revealing. I knew that if he really were Kira, he wouldn’t be able to resist having the last word as his greatest enemy died in front of him, and it turns out I was right.”

“You...you’re serious…” Mr. Yagami says, “He really is…”

“I’m sorry, Chief,” Mogi says.

“I never thought he could be capable of something like this…”

Mr. Yagami trails off and falls silent. He stares at the floor, looking utterly heartbroken. L wonders what he and the rest of his family will do now. Whatever happens to Light now, he knows it won’t be easy. After all this time, with all the trials and tribulations Mr. Yagami has gone through, L wonders if this will be the thing that finally breaks him. When the EMTs declare that they’ve arrived at the hospital, he’s so wrapped up in his thoughts he hardly even notices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to get Chapter 3 done during my trip so stay tuned for that. Light's in trooooooouble.


	3. Light Makes All Sorts Of Attractive Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from my trip! Yay! Thanks to everyone who commented and left kudos. Even small gestures (especially comments *hint hint hint*) get me really excited and wanting to write more, and more you shall have! Enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to mention this, but you can track my progress on new chapters at my art blog: grenadefestival.tumblr.com

The hospital room is almost completely silent save for the soft beeping of Watari’s heart monitor. The doctors informed them that he would most likely be fine after the drug worked its way out of his system, but for now the older man is largely unresponsive. The anesthesiologist administered something to help speed up the process, but she said it may still be a while and just to be patient. Mogi and Mr. Yagami offered to take shifts watching him, but L told them to go back to HQ and keep an eye on things. Their charade is almost over, and while the taskforce still has work to do, there is nothing L can help with without wrecking all the progress they’ve made. The only thing he can do now is sit and wait. Even if there was something else, he wouldn’t want to leave Watari alone anyway. Still, the sitting and waiting is unbearably boring.

Eventually a nurse comes in, breaking his cycle of looking from the monitors to the window to the muted TV in the corner and back, trying to find some stimulus in a place designed to be sterile and silent.

“Hi, I’m Mrs. Shoda,” she says, “I’m just here to make sure everything is going ok in here. Mr….Katayama, right?” 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Are you a family member?”

“Yes, he’s my father.” 

She smiles. 

“Not much a ressemblance.” 

“No, I don’t suppose there would be. I’m actually adopted.” 

“Oh! Excuse me then, I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s alright, I understand.” 

Shoda goes about checking Watari’s IV line and taking note of the readings on all the monitors. 

“You gonna be here a while?” she asks. 

“Most likely,” L replies. 

“Do you have a first name I can call you by? Calling you both Katayama could get confusing.” 

“Ryuzaki is fine.” 

“That’s an unusual name, though I guess you’re not our typical guests.” 

She picks up Watari’s chart and makes a note before putting it back. 

“Well, I guess if there’s anything you need just ask,” she says. 

“Thank you, Shoda.” 

She smiles and exits the room, leaving L alone once again. A shaft of sunlight hits the floor as the storm outside starts to dissipate. He gets up and looks outside at the traffic below. He doesn’t get a chance to zone out again before he hears a knock at the door. He turns around just in time to see a girl with stick-straight brown hair and glasses poke her head in. At first he’s confused before he realizes who it is. 

“Hello? Oh, good you’re here!” she says. 

Misa steps in and closes the door behind her. In her hands is a vase of bright red carnations. 

“How on Earth did  _ you _ get up here?” L asks. 

“I called Mochi to see how everything was going, and he said you were here, so I thought I’d stop by! I came by myself, don’t worry. And I even wore this disguise to keep the press off me.” 

“Well, I suppose there’s no harm then. I was starting to get bored.” 

Misa sets the flowers by the sink and sits down in one of the chairs in the room. 

“How’s Watari doing? Is he going to be alright?” she asks. 

“Yes, he’ll be fine once the drug wears off. The doctors are just monitoring him for now,” L replies. 

“That’s good. What about the plan? How did that go?” 

“Well, I’m sure I have a decent bruise forming on my shoulder, but otherwise I’d say everything went off without a hitch.” 

“Great! And you got the video?” 

“Watari set up the computer to record for half an hour after the blackout was triggered. Once the recording was finished, it should have been sent to another computer in the safehouse we set up after arriving in Japan. I doubt it was tampered with, but we won’t know for sure until we get there.” 

“Alright, so when do we head over there?” 

“As soon as Watari wakes up, I’ll give Mogi the word and he’ll come meet us here.” 

Misa sighs. 

“That’s gonna be a while isn’t it.”

“You don’t have to stay here, you know. You’re free to go home and come back if you like.” 

“I know, but I can’t just leave you here to stare sadly out the window until then, can I? Besides, we can keep each other company!” 

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a deck of playing cards. 

“Do you know how to play Poker?” 

“I’ve played once or twice. I never took you for that kind of gambler, Miss Amane.” 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” she says with a wink. She sits down on the ground and starts shuffling the cards together. 

“Alright, so what are we playing for?” he asks, sitting down across from her. 

“Hm, well I think I have some spare change in my purse we could use. Or we could make it more interesting and say that whoever wins owes the other person a favor.” 

“What kind of favor?” 

“Oh I don’t know, “ she smiles mischievously, “Whatever that person needs when they decide to call it in.” 

L thinks about it for a moment. He finds the idea of playing for favors kind of ridiculous since he’s not sure what they could really offer to each other at this point, but in the end he supposes it doesn’t really matter. 

“Alright, sounds fair.” 

She smiles and deals the cards. 

“Your move, Mr. Super Genius.”

* * *

 

Misa figured out by game two that L was totally lying about only playing once or twice. Now as they start into their third hour of playing, she wonders why she thought, even if he  _ hadn’t _ played much before, that he could possibly be easy to beat. His poker face is incredible, but she knows how to bluff, and their luck seems to be about the same. Between the two of them they’ve won about the same number of games. 

“Alright, I don’t know about you, but I started getting bored about an hour ago, so how about this. Next game, whoever wins gets it,” she says. 

“I don’t have a preference one way or the other,” L replies. 

“Then here we go! Final round!” 

She deals their hands and sets the deck aside. She looks at her hand and fights off a devious smile. Sitting there in her hand is a nine and a jack, both hearts. Not enough for a royal flush, but it’s good enough for her. This round might just be in the bag. She reaches for the deck, but stops as the beeping of the heart monitor speeds up. 

L puts his cards down and stands up. 

“Watari?” 

Misa stops and looks up at him. She contemplates getting up to see if Watari is ok, but...She looks at L’s cards laying on the floor. She reaches over and lifts up the edge of the top card. Five of spades. She starts to lift up the second one.

“I saw that.” 

She drops the cards and smiles. 

“Saw what?” 

She puts her own cards down and stands. Watari looks groggy, but otherwise in good shape for someone who just faked his own death. 

“Miss Amane, I didn’t expect to see you here,” he murmurs.

“Are you feeling alright?” L asks. 

“Oh, I’ve had worse,” Watari says, “I assume everything went according to plan?” 

“Yeah, it totally went off without a hitch!” Misa says. 

“Where did you put the key?” L asks. 

Watari smiles, an amused twinkle in his eye. 

“Didn’t you check my pockets when we got here? It’s been there the whole time.” 

L blanks for a moment and Misa stifles a giggle. 

“No, I didn’t,” he admits. 

“I trust it won’t be difficult to locate then,” Watari says, “Go ahead and call Mr. Mogi. I’ll be fine here.”

“Misa would you mind calling him?” L asks. 

“No problem!” she says, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone. 

L walks over to the counter where Watari’s clothes are sitting while Misa starts dialing Mogi’s number. She pauses and looks over at Watari. 

“What kind of key are you two talking about? Like a key for the computer or something?” she asks, “Oh! Or a keycard? Secret password?”

“Oh no, nothing as complicated as that,” Watari says, “It’s just the key to the front door.” 

“Oh.”

“Ah, here it is,” L mutters, pulling a bronze key out of Watari’s jacket pocket. 

“That’s not nearly as interesting as I thought it would be,” Misa says.

She finishes dialing Mogi’s number. 

“Hey there Mochi! We’re gonna need you to come back now.”

* * *

 

The drive to the apartment takes about half an hour. After commuting between the shining skyscrapers and upscale neighborhoods of the city for so long, the plain, modest buildings around them look awfully sad to Misa. The building they finally stop at blends in perfectly with the rest of the complexes around it. Though the traffic hums around them, there’s an air of silence around this place. No one comes in, and no one comes out. Misa thinks she sees someone looking out of their window further up, but when she glances away for a second the face disappears. She knows she shouldn’t be nervous - after all, the neighborhood looks safe enough - but she can’t help but feel a little paranoid. There’s no way to know who’s watching. 

Misa hears the sound of music coming from one of the apartments as the three of them go inside. It’s the only sign that anyone other than them is in the building. Misa starts to ask L which appartment is his, but before she can he stops in front of a door. He reaches into his pocket and takes out the key. Once unlocked, the door swings open without a sound.

Inside the apartment, the lights are off. There isn’t a single pieces of furniture inside, nor are there any marks in the carpet to indicate there might have been. It feels colder inside than it did in the hallway, and as Misa walks inside she wonders what kind of safehouse doesn’t have any furniture. Mogi flicks on the lights and shuts the door behind them. 

“This way,” L says, walking through a doorway into a bedroom. 

This room is just as devoid of intrigue as the living room. The only difference is the desktop computer sitting on the ground, the lights on its tower blinking slowly. L sits down in front of it and switches the monitor on. Misa peers over his shoulder as he opens up a folder on the desktop and begins diving through a seemingly endless number of files. They all have labels that she doesn’t understand. Some are obviously dates, while others look like acronyms or names. Some even look like random scrambles of letters, and she wonders how he finds anything. Finally he opens up a folder labeled with today’s date. Inside are several large video files. Looking at the thumbnails, Misa realizes they’ll all of the same room in the task force headquarters, just from different angles.

“Here it is,” L says. 

Misa and Mogi sit down on either side of him as he double-clicks one of the videos and opens it up. 

“You go ahead and watch. The relevant parts should be at the beginning. Beyond that I doubt you’ll find anything interesting,” he says. He stands up and extracts himself from between Misa and Mogi. 

“Aw, where are you going?” Misa asks. 

“Just to the kitchen,” he says.

Misa rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the video. She doesn’t find it all that interesting, after all she knows Light is Kira already, though watching L fall out of his chair is amusing. She glances at Mogi. Shock looks odd on a man who is usually so stone-faced. She wonders why he’s so surprised since they already filled him in on everything. Perhaps up until now he was as much in denial as Mr. Yagami was, clinging to the hope that this was just another one of L’s far-fetched theories. 

In the kitchen, drawers clatter as they’re pulled open. As the noise subsides, L reemerges with a flash drive in his hand. Mogi pauses the video, the distressed look on his face indicating that he’s seen enough. He stands and L takes his place, plugging the flash drive into the computer and copying all versions of the video over to it. 

“So now what?” Misa asks. 

“Mr. Mogi, I’m going to give this drive to you. Please take care not to lose it,” L says, handing the flash drive to Mogi, “When you get a chance, tell each member of the task force about this recording and figure out a way for them to see it without raising suspicion. If that isn’t possible, at least inform them of the relevant parts of the plan that have already been set in motion. Once every member of the task force knows that Light is Kira, there’s no reason to put on an act any longer. I want you to confront him directly with all this information. We can’t let him attempt to sway the others into believing he’s innocent, and I believe being straight forward will accomplish this. There won’t be any lie he can tell that will make sense when you tell him about Misa’s confession and the video.” 

Mogi sighs and pockets the flash drive.

“Understood.” 

“Aw, so I don’t get to do anything?” Misa asks. 

“If Light persists in denying his guilt, we might have you come down and confirm their story, but I doubt even he will be so tenacious,” L says, “Until then, we’ll put you up in the upstairs suite like we originally planned. At least until the police take you and Light into custody.” 

“Wait, what?!” 

Misa jumps to her feet. She imagines the police taking her away, bound and gagged like some feral animal just like last time. No care. No concern. No contact with the outside world. She imagines months passing without hearing anything from L, or anyone else. Will the government erase her existence from the world? Let her rot in a sterile cell? What if L doesn’t even get the  _ chance  _ to vouch for her before they decide to take drastic action?

L sighs and rises as well. 

“It’s procedure, Misa. The ICPO’s pride has already been hurt enough. Let’s not complicate things by refusing to cooperate,” he says. 

“But...when you said-” 

“I said I would do everything in my power to keep them from putting you to death and to get you a fair trial, and I intend to honor that promise. Do you trust me to do that?”

She looks at him and ponders the answer to that question. As their eyes lock, she searches for any hint of compassion or understanding in his face, any sign that he might be the least bit concerned about her, but his gaze is like an iron door. Cold and impartial. It’s impossible to find anything genuine or tangible in his expression save for one driving emotion: conviction. It’s the sign she didn’t know she needed. Whether or not he cares about her personally doesn’t matter, she realizes. Once he decides he’s going to do something, she knows he’s not going to stop until it happens. 

“I...Yes. I do.” 

“Then let the police have their fun, and leave the rest to me.”

* * *

 

Misa wakes up early and makes a mental tally mark on the wall of her room as she tames her bedhead with her fingers. It’s been more than a week since she moved into the suite again, and even though Mogi promises every day that they’re going to arrest Light soon, everything still feels like it’s taking too long. She walks into the living room and looks at the growing pile of books and magazines she’s gone through, wondering how long before she’s left with nothing new to read. No one is allowed in or out of the upstairs, not even in secret, so she has to subsist entirely on all the food and entertainment pre-stocked in the apartment. At least she has plenty of people to talk to. Ryuk and Rem aren’t particularly chatty, but she enjoys pestering them anyway. Sometimes they even have a full conversation. Mogi provides the most fun with his periodic texts about their progress.

L and Watari each had a fake funeral yesterday, complete with burials and everything. Almost everyone on the taskforce has seen the video except for Matsuda who Mogi is saving for last. Misa amuses herself imagining Matsuda trying to fake being upset at the funerals, however, as funny as it is imagining him blubbering and giving an over dramatic speech, it probably wouldn’t happen. She knows he’s a better actor than he appears to be, even if his ability to remain cool under pressure leaves something to be desired. She frowns as her fantasy bubble pops, and she picks up a magazine from the “unread” pile on the coffee table. 

_ Mochi should tell Matsu about the plan today, if he hasn’t already of course. I wonder if they’ll confront Light later today then. It would be nice if they would just get it over with.  _

She flips the magazine open and looks at the advertisement on the page. Her train of thought is briefly derailed as she wonders why on Earth they had the model wear such bright yellow pants, and with  _ that  _ top of all things, but it gets back on track quickly enough. 

_ I sure hope he remembers to turn on the TV up here so I can see the security cameras, like he promised. After all, I shouldn’t have to be left out of this. He’s  _ my  _ boyfriend after all.  _

She pauses and her face falls for a moment. 

_ Well...ex-boyfriend I guess.  _

“So, you think they’re gonna do it today?” Ryuk asks. 

“Ugh, I hope so,” Misa sighs, “It’s so boring up here. No offense you two.” 

Ryuk scoffs. 

“You’re telling me. There aren’t nearly enough apples up here. I’m going crazy trying not to eat them all at once,” he says. 

Misa can’t see Rem, but she’s sure the shinigami would be rolling her eyes if she could. 

“You know you don’t have to stay here the entire time. If you wanted you could go get apples elsewhere and come back,” Rem says. 

“I know. I just like complaining,” Ryuk says

Rem sighs. 

“Welp, time for breakfast,” Misa says. 

She gets up and heads for the kitchen. She fixes herself strawberries on granola cereal. Nothing special, but she doesn’t have the resources to do anything more fancy, except maybe eggs, but today just isn’t an egg day. She makes sure to toss Ryuk an apple from the fridge, which he happily gobbles down. 

She takes time getting dressed once she’s done. There’s no reason to debate back and forth if she should wear the red top or the red top without sleeves or the black  _ and  _ red top - after all, who does she have to impress up here? - but she does it anyway. Clothes on. Accessories matched. Hair up. Makeup perfect. She drags it out for over an hour, but regrets not trying harder to take at least two. 

_ Should have taken a shower too. I could have added at least another half an hour. Maybe forty-five minutes if I really wanted to. Maybe I should do it anyway. Redoing my makeup would definitely kill some time, but I’m not sure I’m  _ that  _ bored.  _

She stops when she hears a ping come from the living room. She hurries out of her bedroom and picks her phone up off the coffee table. 

“Ah, finally!” she says, opening the text from Mogi, “‘Getting ready. Still want cameras?’ Well of course I do, I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” 

She sends off a reply and flops down on the couch. She switches on the entertainment system, wondering what video input she should switch it too, or if it even matters. 

_ I probably can’t even come close to accessing the cameras by myself anyway.  _

Her phone pings again. All Mogi’s text says is “K.” A moment later the TV screen flickers and the image changes to what looks like a security interface like the one downstairs, just more cut down for a smaller screen. She turns up the volume and settles in to watch the show. 

Most of the taskforce is on the sofas, newspapers on the table in front of them. Aizawa puruses the headlines while Mr. Yagami and Matsuda sit and watch. Matsuda fidgets with his hands and stares at the floor as he speaks. 

“It’s been over a week since Ryuzaki died. I guess we’re not going to be killed after all,” he says. 

“At least the killing of criminals seems to have slowed down for now. It’s just one or two a day now. Maybe Kira’s taking time off to celebrate,” Aizawa spits. He folds the newspaper and sets it back down on the table. 

“Whatever his reasons, I’m glad for it,” Light chimes in from the computer bank, “It gives us an opportunity to recollect ourselves.”

Mr. Yagami doesn’t say anything. His gaze is firmly on the floor. Aizawa and Matsuda look at each other, then at Light who is busy typing. Mogi is nowhere to be seen. Aizawa turns around and rests his arm on the back of the couch. 

“So how’s it going over there, Light?” he asks. 

“Well there’s not much left of the systems, even after we broke through all the encryption. I’m working on transferring what we were able to salvage. It’s weird though. There’s still layers of encryption below the ones we were able to crack that are a lot tougher to get to, but I can’t imagine what could be under them that’s so important,” Light says. 

His voice is steady and curious, but his face is grim. As his fingers fly across the keys, it’s clear something is bothering him. Something that doesn’t add up. A puzzle piece that isn’t fitting. Misa can practically see the cogs in his mind grinding away. 

_ Too bad you’re not going to figure it out before they catch you.  _

Ryuk chuckles. 

“I can only imagine how furious this is making him,” he says, “I bet he never planned on anyone faking their death.”

Aizawa glances back at Matsuda and Mr. Yagami. Matsuda looks pale, as if he’s worried about Light catching on and saying something. Aizawa looks somewhat concerned as well, but he keeps his composure far better. After a beat, Mogi comes down the stairs into the room. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his mouth is set in a hard line. Misa leans forward in her seat. 

“Light, we need to have a talk,” he says. 

Light looks up from the computer and stops typing. 

“Um, about what?” he asks. His face softens, but there’s a steely glint in his eyes. 

“L was right this entire time. You  _ are  _ Kira,” Mogi says. 

Light frowns, the mask cracking. 

“Mogi, you can’t be serious! We need to start finding new suspects, not running in circles!” he says. 

Aizawa rises up from the couch, and Matsuda follows. 

“We have proof, Light,” Mogi says, “as well as a witness. Drop the act.” 

A look of genuine surprise crosses Light’s face as the mask continues to crumble. He stands and pushes the chair back. 

“What?! What the hell do you mean by that?!” he asks. 

Mogi looks over at Aizawa and nods. Aizawa walks over to the computers, tensed as if he expects Light to try and stop him, but Light simply observes. Aizawa brings up a login screen and inputs a password, bypassing the deeper encryption Light was so worried about. He selects a file, and just like that the video of Light’s confession starts playing on the monitors. Mr. Yagami seems to sink deeper into the sofa. Light’s calm mask shatters completely. 

“What…” he breathes, “What is this? This can't be real, I-! The power was out! The cameras stopped working!” 

“Did L tell you that?” Aizawa asks. 

Light stares at him. Horror creeps across his face, distorting him into something Misa hardly recognizes. He looks like a cornered dog, ready to snap at anyone who comes near him. 

“This is a setup,” he says, “It has to be! L’s completely obsessive! Are you really going to believe anything he says?!” 

“L died, and you said that you won, Light. How much more of a confession do we need?” Aizawa asks, “It’s over.” 

Mr. Yagami finally stands up. 

“Just come quietly, Light. Please. I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” he says. 

Light looks at him, startled. As if he forgot his own father was even there. For a moment, it seems as if he’ll try to bolt for the door, but as Mr. Yagami turns to look at him, something in his face changes. Horror and angers turns to dismay and guilty. He relaxes, just by a hair, but it’s enough to give Aizawa and Mogi the confidence to run forward and grab him. 

As Aizawa fumbles with his handcuffs, Mr. Yagami sighs and sits down again on the edge of the sofa. Matsuda crouches next to him, asking if he’s ok. Fury creeps back into Light’s eyes as Aizawa snaps the handcuffs on his wrists. Light clenches his hands into fists. 

“What witness?” he asks. 

Mogi and Aizawa look at each other. 

“Don’t I have a right to face my accuser?” Light continues.

Aizawa scoffs. 

“You’re the worst mass murderer we’ve seen in centuries. You’re dead to rights,” he says. 

Light takes a deep breath, struggling to keep his cool. 

“Who. Was. It. No one alive would be able to-!” 

He stops and his eyes widen. 

“Misa!” he screams. He tries to wrench himself free of Mogi’s grasp. 

Misa’s breath catches in her throat and she shrinks away from the screen. 

“You worthless idiot, who the hell do you think you’re dealing with here?! You’re making a huge mistake!” he wails, “You think by locking me up anything is going to change?! The world will go back to the way it was! Who do you think can fix it, huh?!  _ You?! _ ” 

Aizawa opens his mouth to say something, but he’s cut off as Matsuda jumps to his feet. 

“Shut your damn mouth! I don’t want to hear another word out of you!” he shouts. 

Everyone freezes in shock for a beat. Light grits his teeth and stares daggers at Matsuda, but he doesn’t speak. For once, Light Yagami has nothing to say. 

“Alright, let’s go,” Aizawa spits. 

They drag him off towards the elevator and out of Misa’s view. The show is over. Misa realizes her legs are shaking, and she curls up on the sofa, arms wrapped around her knees. She takes a deep breath, wondering if she really did the right thing and realizing it’s too late for second-guessing. This era has slammed its doors on them and now...now she has no idea what will happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so begins our "courtroom drama" part of the fic. Since Misa will be spending most of her time in a jail cell, we're going to take a break from her POV for a bit, so stay tuned for L being a little shit (as he do.)


End file.
